Phaedra

Dramaturgy Notebook

Racine's Phaedra

Steve Jenks

THE3213

Charles Poole

April 20, 2007

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Production History Page 3

II. Biographical Notes on the Playwright Page 5

III. Historical Context Page 7

IV. Textual Analysis Page 9

V. Bibliography Page 14

I. Production History

The first production of Phaedra was in 1677 (James 14). Two days after Racine's production launched, Duchesse de Bouillon and Jacques Pardon released their own adaptation of the Euripides piece (Kiger). This new adaptation was more successful than Racine's initially, but his work was eventually deemed the more superior play (Kiger). Originating the role of Phaedra was actress Marie Desmares, who was very well known during her time (Kellogg 17). Other notable Phaedras include Adrienne Couvreur, Sarah Bernhardt, and Maria Casares (12). Couvreur performed the role during a production in which the Duchesse de Bouillon sent a large number of servants to be disruptive during the play in an attempt to ruin the run (12). Couvreur took a stance and decided not to perform for the Duchesse, who was sitting in the audience as well--shortly thereafter the actress was found dead of poisoning (13). Bernhardt once played the role of Phaedra with only one leg after it was amputated at age 70 (13). Casares revived interest in the play when she donned the role in the mid 1950's. Casares was already renowned for her work in film, and thus generated a decent audience.

More recently, the American Repertory Theatre produced Phaedra in the Loeb Theatre in Massachusetts (Past). The production credits from the Past Productions section of their website reads:

Directed by Liz Diamond

Set Design by Riccardo Hernandez

Costume Design by Catherine Zuber

Lighting Design by Michael Chybowski

Sound Design by Christopher Walker

Stage Manager Anne S. King

With an opening cast consisting of:

Theseus - Jonathan Epstein

Phaedra - Randy Danson

Hippolytus - Benjamin Evett

Aricia - Caroline Hall

Enone - Karen Mac Donald

Theamenes - Stephen Rowe

Ismene - Kelly Mizell

Panope - Emily Vail

This cast and crew was notable because it consisted of artists who were award winners in their craft (Past). Many of the performers and crew held roles on television, in movies, and some had achieved prestigious awards, such as Liz Diamond's Obie Awards (Past). The American Repertory Theatre was cited as "taking on a difficult piece that is not often performed. Diamond is ballsy for taking on this task" (Kiger).

Due to the nature of the play and the age of the work, it is not performed very often today and information about its performances in the past is hard to come by as well. I was fortunate to find information about the original Phaedra online, since I was unable to find any information about the casts or crews of Racine's time in any of the books I found.

II. Biographical Notes on the Playwright

Jean Baptiste Racine was born in La Ferte-Milon, a small town near Soissons, France (Duclaux 2). He was raised by his grandparents, who were members of a reform movement within the Roman Catholic Church known as Jansenism (9). The central beliefs of the Jansenist sect were the denial of free will, predestination and the need for divine grace for salvation (9). Although Racine received a classical education, he was greatly influenced by the beliefs of this sect (Duclaux 14 and Butler 9). Many of his works combine the Greek idea of fate with the Jansenist belief in human frailty.

In 1658, Racine went to Paris to study philosophy at the College de Harcourtin (Duclaux 56). While there, he befriended Moliere and the poet Boileau and abandoned his spiritual interests for the delights and ambitions of the secular world (57-58).

After Racine established himself as a playwright in the community, he began to face enemies. The Duchesse (mentioned in production history) even went so far as to buy out all of the "good" seats in the theatre for two weeks worth of shows, just so there wouldn't be applause--and it cost her 15,000 livres (Duclaux 123).

Following Phedre, Racine decided to change his life (Duclaux 139). He ended his affair with Marie Desmares, cut all ties with the commercial theatre, ended relationships with his theatrical friends and reconciled with the Jansenists at Port-Royal (139-145). He married Catherine de Romanet, a pious young woman who had never been exposed to the theatre, and became the father of two sons and five daughters, most of whom went into the church (Tobin 14).

Racine was appointed royal historiographer and accompanied the king on his military campaigns (Kellogg 8). His final plays, Esther and Athalie, were commissioned by Louis XIV's wife (8). These were biblical tragedies written for the students of a girl's school, not the passionate works of earlier years (Flowers 180). Racine died on April 21, 1699 from cancer of the liver and was buried at Port-Royal (Duclaux 240-241). His remains were eventually moved to Saint-Etienne-du-Mont in Paris (244).

III. Historical Context

One of the most important historical documents needed in any exploration of Phaedra, is

Euripides's Hippolytus. This